theuglychick
Crowing
One rule of keeping roosters is they should never be allowed around small children for one reason: kids of a certain young age are boistrous, loud, make jerky movements, etc. They make even the calmest rooster nervous. And a large rooster like a Brahma can really hurt a child. That doesn't necessarily mean he's "aggressive", but that he is being stressed by that child. A kid is a different thing than aggression for aggression's sake toward his keepers.
Older kids can be taught the way to act around a rooster, but a toddler may be the same height as a big rooster and all it takes is one well-placed flog to take out a child's eyes. That is not the rooster's fault. Even my superbly sweet and calm Delaware rooster was visibly nervous when a neighbor's young grandchildren were screaming and running across the road from us and he could not even see them. I would never allow a young child in with any of my roosters. You really must think of it like a stallion or a bull in smaller, more agile form. He has a job to do and he reacts to stress caused by a kid's loud, raucous noise and fast movements. And if a child chases a rooster, well, sorry, he's going to react and I seriously do not blame him! None of my LF roosters were in the least aggressive but small kids acting the way small kids do made them very on edge.
So word to the wise, keep young kids away from the roosters until they can learn how to act around one and be much taller than the rooster is.
Great advice! We put up with it for as long as we could, I tried all the "rehabilitative methods," ignoring, football carrying, redirecting his attention (yea, right), bla, bla, bla, then when I found out I was pregnant, I gave him to a more (rooster) experienced friend who wanted another too to protect his hens and was convinced he could deal with him. He was so mean the friend gave up and introduced him to the stew pot within a week.
@SD Bird Lady I like the 3 strikes rule. I'm going to employ it with my new boys.
I'm really hoping for at least one good /neutral boy. I've read about people having success with raising multiple Roos together, with 3 being a good number, and them keeping each other busy enough that their aggression is less directed toward people. I'm hoping that it won't backfire and result in me being flogged by a gang of people-hating roosters.
I'm also going to handle the boys less than I did that **** Pecker Roo. (that was his name). He was an easter chic, and was probably over indulged in handling and became a little too comfortable around people, or grew to loathe being handled.
I know there's no magic trick for making Roos tolerant of people, and getting a good one is more luck of the draw, but any other thoughts on roos?